The present invention relates to a compact disc jacket and, more particularly, to a double-walled paperboard jacket for a compact disc and the like as well as a blank from which the same may be made.
Compact discs are now used for a wide variety of different applications ranging from the original application for storing digitally recorded music to its more recent application as a Read-Only Memory (ROM) for computers. The original conventional storage device for the compact disc was a rigid all-plastic box known as a "jewel box." The jewel box has recently been criticized by environmentalists as being nonrecyclable and therefore ecologically unsound. Additionally, the jewel box itself was typically not printable and therefore had to be transparent in order to enable printed matter identifying the nature of the compact disc (perhaps the name of the album recorded, the performers, and the like) to be disposed inside the jewel box in such a way as to be visible therethrough. The jewel box was a rather bulky storage device for home use in view of the thinness of the compact disc being stored, and was not well suited for mailing since it was relatively brittle and therefore had to be protected by cushioning to prevent its fracture during rough handling in the mails.
More recently, compact discs have been sold in storage devices made of paperboard and plastic, this being more ecologically acceptable. Nonetheless, even in these newer storage devices, the paperboard component extending over the plastic holder had to be displaced to permit the compact disc (disposed in a horizontal plane) to be dropped onto the plastic component of the holder.
Compact discs have also been stored in an all-paperboard jacket having a hollow or chamber into which the compact disc was slid edgewise, much as a conventional record is slid into its paperboard sleeve. While such a paperboard jacket had the advantages of being totally recyclable, inexpensive, lightweight, easily mailable, and easily printable, in practice the jackets were not entirely satisfactory. Frequently the jackets were not of double-wall thickness on both sides of the compact disc, so that the jacket lacked the stiffness necessary to protect the surfaces of the compact disc within. Further, typically at least one of the two walls of the jacket did not present to the compact disc a smooth and essentially uninterrupted surface, but rather contained inwardly projecting elements which could interfere with the easy insertion of the compact disc into the hollow or chamber of the jacket. Finally, whereas conventional records played by a needle are necessarily constructed of material having sufficient strength to withstand the "aggressive" or scratchy nature of the uncoated interior of a conventional sleeve, the compact discs are made of softer material (since they are read by a light beam and not by a needle) and therefore less able to withstand the aggressive nature of an uncoated jacket interior. (The term "coating" refers to the "mill coating" of paperboard with clay and binder at the paper mill to improve the fine printability of the paperboard by improving the ink and coating holdout. The term "coating" may also refer to a "press applied coating" of varnish or aqueous latex, which is applied by a printer over printed paperboard in order to seal in the ink layer defining the printing.) It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while a compact disc is made of a softer material than the conventional record, its material is still strong enough to withstand the aggressive nature of an uncoated jacket interior. However, the perception of the public is such that there remains a preference for a coated jacket interior even though there may be no scientific advantage to providing the same.
A further disadvantage of the paperboard jacket of the prior art was its failure to provide a third panel (in addition to the front/front liner and back/back liner panel) which could receive therein a booklet or other printed matter relating perhaps to the subject matter of the CD, the artist, instructions on how to use the CD, or simply advertising matter of a related or unrelated nature.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a jacket for compact discs and the like which is substantially double-walled throughout for stiffness.
Another object is to provide such a jacket which presents a chamber or hollow with an essentially smooth interior to prevent hang-up of a compact disc therein during the insertion and removal processes.
Yet another object is to provide such a jacket which is 100% recyclable, inexpensive, lightweight, mailable without cushioning, and printable on its exterior surfaces.
A further object is to provide a paperboard blank, which is coated on only one side thereof, from which such a jacket may be made.
It is also an object of the invention to provide such a jacket which presents a chamber or hollow for a CD where the chamber or hollow has an interior formed only of coated material.
It is another object to provide such a jacket which includes a third panel defining a pocket for releasable storage of a booklet or like printed matter.